Army Protects Water Supply with $100.1 Million Facility

The U.S. Army has built a state-of-the-art, $100.1 million water plant in the Mojave Desert for their critical training ground for soldiers that strips the toothpaste-like slime made up of an array of minerals from water that is in the aquifer below.

The U.S. Army has conquered a formidable foe in the Mojave Desert — the constant thirst for water.

Towering water tanks and a state-of-the-art, $100.1 million water plant have risen from the sands within this critical training ground for today's soldiers.

"You probably noticed we are in the Mojave Desert," Chief of Staff Col. Matthew Moore said, facing the new Irwin Water Works plant. He spoke during a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning.

"Water is an issue here. A diminishing supply of water in the aquifers, like much of the Mojave Desert, was probably our No. 1 concern."

He reminded the crowd of military and civilian dignitaries that 56,000 soldiers a month deploy to Fort Irwin, which is the size of Rhode Island.

"And the capacities and capabilities of this phenomenal facility are simply not sustainable long term without a sufficient reusable water supply," he said.

Moore explained that previously, more than half of the water pumped out of the aquifer did not meet drinking water standards. And the old system was unable to treat that water to make it safe for human consumption. Meanwhile, with only four inches of rainfall annually or less, more water was being pumped out of the aquifer than being replaced.

He said the new system will process 99.6 percent of the water going into the plant. It uses a combination of technologies. The primary treatment technology is electrodialysis reversal. It uses DC voltage across a sandwich of semi-permeable membranes that pulls the salt out. The plant utilizes three stages for a total salt removal of about 3 percent.

"By putting in this plant, we are able to really extend the use of those aquifers, by some estimates, another 40, 50 years in this area," said the Honorable Katherine Hammack, Assistant Secretary of the Army, Installations, Energy and Environment.

Hammack said the Army is leading the charge in net zero energy, net zero water and net zero waste.

"The intent is to better manage our resources so our bases can continue operations for the long term. Here we are highlighting net zero water and this location, Fort Irwin, has reduced its water consumption by over 34 percent over the last 10 years.

"So this water treatment facility is going to process water, filter it, treat it, clean it and essentially have no water rejection into the environment.

Taking out the heavy minerals you would see in the desert environment. It's a very unique water treatment facility."

Hammack said she expects other military installations, cities and towns take a look at the plant's operation to see if some of its technology can be implemented elsewhere.

The Army broke ground on this plant on June 28, 2013.

Laurie Kemper with the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board attended the ceremony. She said she believes there is a lot of good lessons to share with the surrounding communities.

"The technology is improving, so other communities will be able to use it," she said. "The big thing about this is how little waste, because reverse osmosis usually has a large amount of water you have to get rid of.

"The focus was on arsenic because the water wasn't safe to drink. but because they were thinking more broader than just arsenic, they are removing the salt with the reverse osmosis. And now the water now percolating back into the groundwater is cleaner than the original raw water. That is going to make the entire volume in the groundwater last a lot longer and not be as expensive to treat. It's a win-win, really."

Source: Desert Dispatch

Media

Taxonomy

• Water Scarcity
• Water Access
• Scarcity
• Water Scarcity In Desert area
• Water Resources
• Water Management
• water treatment